1. Technical Field
The present invention(s) generally relate to server-based computing and, more particularly, relate to providing remote clients with collaborative features, such as a workspace, that support social productivity.
2. Description of Related Art
In a server-based computing environment, hardware upgrades, application deployment, technical support, and/or data storage can be provided by one or more terminal application servers. As such, use of server-based computing to support multiple clients can reduce application costs and ensure that applications are accessible by some or all of the supported clients. Server-based computing also provides enhanced security and eliminates the need for patch through software upgrades to a plurality of different clients. Traditionally, server-based computing has been implemented by way of remote desktop computing or remote application computing.
With remote desktop computing, one or more terminal application servers provide one or more clients with access to a plurality of software applications, and manage data transfers to each client through a separate data communication line. Generally, users access the terminal server through their end user devices (also known as “clients” or “client devices”) by authenticating into a network with a username and password, with an access card, based on biometric information, or by any other authentication method. Upon establishing a remote desktop computing session, each client serves as a remote desktop display capable of displaying applications which are provided by the terminal application server. The remote desktop is created by and handled within the terminal application server based on applications installed on the terminal application server. The clients also allow users to input data through a mouse, keyboard, or the like, such that the users can interact with the application provided by the terminal application server.
Unfortunately, traditional remote desktop computing is limited by the inability of the terminal server to provide access to disparate operating systems (e.g., a traditional terminal server configured to provide Microsoft® Windows® operating system is not capable of providing Apple® OS X®-operating system), thereby requiring a user of remote desktop computing to interface with different terminal servers for access to different operating systems. Traditional remote desktop computing is also limited by the inability of the terminal server to provide the operating system with embedded access to a third-party, cloud-based storage (e.g., those provided by Dropbox, Box, or Google® Docs).
Additionally, traditional remote desktop computing is limited in features that enable teams of two or more users to collaboratively work on documents and other files, thereby hindering social-based productivity with respect to those documents and files. Various forms of communication, hardware, and software fragmentation often exist among users who work remotely, and such fragmentation often hampers the collaborative efforts of those users.
To illustrate, where a team of users is working collaboratively on one or more documents, associated conversations between users is often fragmented as a result of team users using different means of communication to facilitate such conversations (e.g., e-mail or chat) or team users not including all team users in conversations (e.g., an e-mail thread relating to the collaboration includes some but not all of the team users). In another example, when individual team users utilize different devices, software, or software services (e.g., one team user utilizes Google® Docs and another utilizes Microsoft® Word) during collaboratively efforts, such fragmentation can lead to document compatibility or document access issues. In addition, the fragmentation of communication, software, and hardware often results in useful information (e.g., metadata) generated during collaborative efforts to go un-captured or to go unnoticed by other team users.